In November 2020, a Mahindra Marazzo with an ‘AutoShift’ badge was spotted testing sans camouflage. Reports suggested that Mahindra will launch the automated manual transmission gearbox on the Marazzo sometime in 2021. But the Marazzo MPV saw a slowdown in sales in the first four months of 2021. The brand reportedly managed to move only 711 units of the Mahindra Marazzo between January and April 2021. To put things into perspective, Maruti Suzuki sold 37,286 units of the Ertiga MPV, and Toyota sold 19,300 units of the Innova Crysta in the same period.
This led to speculation that Mahindra may be planning to discontinue the model in the Indian market owing to low sales. But, according to a media report, Mahindra’s CEO (Auto Division) Veejay Nakra has confirmed that the company will not shelve the Marazzo MPV. It will continue to be on sale in India. The brand is also likely to continue sales on the KUV100 brand as well. While Mahindra is focusing on the SUV segment, other Mahindra vehicles will also co-exist with future Mahindra products.
In addition to this, the Auto Division’s top boss also confirms that the Marazzo will come with newer variants in the near future. The brand could be planning to introduce an AMT (AutoShift) version soon. Sources report that the AutoShift Marazzo will go on sale this year. We speculate that the variant will make its entry around the 2021 festive season.
Powering the Marazzo AutoShift is likely to be the same BS6-compliant 1.5-litre turbo diesel engine. The oil motor makes 121 Bhp of power and 300 Nm of torque. Currently, the engine comes with a 6-speed manual gearbox. The brand is also likely to introduce a turbo-petrol motor on the Mahindra Marazzo in the future. The brand could employ an mStallion series 1.5-litre Turbo-Petrol unit that makes around 163 Bhp of power and 280 Nm of torque.
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